he town's importance as a Cinque
Port.]

NEW FOREST, HAMPSHIRE

=How to get there.=--Train from Waterloo. L. and S.W. Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Lyndhurst Road Station (3 miles).
=Distance from London.=--85-1/4 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies between 2-1/4 to 3-3/4 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 14s. 2d. 9s. 0d. 7s. 1d.
Return 24s. 10d. 15s. 8d. 14s. 2d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Grand Hotel," Lyndhurst; "Crown
Hotel," Lyndhurst; "Rose and Crown," Brockenhurst, etc.

The popular story as to the creation of what was then the "New" Forest
by William the Conqueror has been probably much exaggerated, although we
all believed in our school days the old chroniclers, who averred that
the king destroyed fifty or so churches and numerous villages, and
exterminated their inhabitants. The fact is that the harsh feudal forest
laws were rigidly enforced by the Conqueror, who no doubt in some places
swept away the villages and churches of rebellious foresters, but the
very qualities of the forest soil disprove the fact that the land was
once all "smiling pastures and golden cornfields," as some of the old
historians would have us believe.

The New Forest of the present day forms a triangle about 20 miles long
and 12 broad, of which the base is a line drawn westward from the mouth
of the Beaulieu river to within a mile or two of the Avon, the apex
reaching to the confines of Wiltshire. The forest scenery is extremely
diversified, but always very beautiful; glades and reaches of gentle
park and meadow, and open heath-like stretches, contrast wonderfully
with the actual masses of huge beeches, under some of which daylight
never penetrates.

Lyndhurst, the little capital of the New Forest, is situated in its
centre, and is one of the best points from which to explore the beauties
of the district. The church at Lyndhurst is modern, rebuilt in 1863; but
it should be visited in order to see the large altar-fresco of the Ten
Virgins executed by the late Lord Leighton. A little way beyond the
church is the Queen's House, built in Charles II.'s reign. Here resides
the Deputy-Surveyor, who administers under the Crown, while six elected
Verderers, in their courts of Swain-mote, represent the Commoners. In
the hall is kept what is known as William Rufus's stirrup-iron.

Close to the village of Minsted is Malwood Lodge, Sir William Harcourt's
New Forest seat. From